REDEFINING PROFESIONAL IDENTITY AND ROLE OF
RECORDS MANAGER IN SOCIETY
Records Manager is someone who is responsible for record management in an organizations. Basic roles of the records manager as strategic coordination on information resources across the organizations. The journey of records manager evolved at the end of World War II sort out the chaos of managing the mountains of hard copy documents, folders and storage boxes. Their responsibilities were to pick up storage boxes, catalogue, protect track, archive and return hard copy folders and storage boxes on request. The records manager and records management team sat between the storage area and filing cabinet. (Linda shave, (2015). Meanwhile the evolution of the record keeping profession begins with the writings of Luciana Duranti on the Odyssey of Record Managers: Part 1 and 2’ ARMA. (Lucianti, 1989). These article provide a journey through history of records management’ from 400 BC to the mid 20th century. Duranti mixes the history of the role of the record keeping professional with the history of record keeping.
This profession has been well recognized in developed countries such as Australia, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom. How about the in the developing countries like Malaysia? According to Aliza Ismail and Jamaludin, (2011),
in Malaysia organization, generally there is no specific position of ‘records manager’. Their study points out that records management is an “invisible” profession to the society of Malaysia. This situation also happened in Namibia, based on research paper conducted by Annastasia Ipinge and Cathrine Tambudzai Nengomasha (2018), their finding find out, in the Public service of Namibia the profession of the records management was not well recognized. However, this essay will focus on discussions on the environment of Record managers in Malaysia.
Records management is a very important function in the administration of an organization. Information and records are intellectual assets that play as a main role of administration for the development and sustainability on a competitive organization. Raja Abdullah Yaacob, (2007), stated that record should be comprehensively managed, use and exploit because it is a memory of agencies activities. Career in Records management can be divided into two, record management in daily transaction and record keeping for the preservation of heritage for archive institution.
Who is the Record manager? according to Mohd Saufi, (2014) Record manager is the person who covers the management of records with aims to meet the demands of the public sector and private organizations and the society and furthermore the research community. They earns their place in the life of organization through their contribution to business aims and organization goals. The main role of the records manager’s is to develop and an implement records management strategy, procedure and provide guidance on any issues of record management. The task of the Record manager also includes in providing a systematic access to the right information for operational purposes and support in decision making, maintain the efficiency record controlling on the volume of records created and also preserve the historical records for research purposes in the future.
In Malaysian administrative system the Record manager is a new emerging career. Career as a Record manager in Malaysia is more synonymous to archival staff in the National Archives of Malaysia, who are responsible for carrying out tasks related to records management and archival administration in the public sectors. The archival profession in Malaysia, began with the establishment of the Public Records Office in 1st Disember 1957. Tuan Haji Mubin Sheppard was appointed as the first Public Keeper of Public Records. In the situation of the Public Sector in Malaysia, role of the Record manager done by the archivist from National Archives of Malaysia (Sidek Jamil, 2008), with a justification that all particulars aspects from records management and identify appropriate collections for preservation and provide access to users on the archival collections are covers in archives. Archives are evidence to the past, tell stories, provide valuable information and explanation occurred in the past.
In this connection, over a past decade role of the Record manager in Malaysia is a response of an archivist. Their role as a Record manager is not very clear. The society known them as a custodian of the national heritage. Even though they have an obligation to ensure the preservation of valuable records of the past and present. Commonly in the past year, archivist also being recognized and called as “basement boarders” or “bookkeepers”. Not many people are aware of the existence of Record manager in the public sectors. The National Archives Act 2003, have strengthening the positioning of records management field in the public sector, therefore there is still a space that need to review. Even though, the national archives act introduces in 1969 and review in 2003, the requirements of a Record manager at the public sector still not be clearly stated. Currently with the rapid changing in the record management all over the world, it is a high time to the National Archives of Malaysia to review the National Archives Act 2003 (Act 629) and stipulate the establish and the role of the Record manager in the public sector, in line with the current requirements. National Archives of Malaysia, the authorized department in record management in this country can learn from other countries such as Australia in establishing the professional in the record keeping. In Australia, there are two difference positions and role between Record manager and Archivist. They are professionalized with clear routes of entry, qualification and professional standards.
Simon Christmas and Alan Cribb (2017), defined professional identity as an individual’s conception of them self as a professional. It is a complex construct, and existing accounts highlight multiple, interconnected components, with changing degrees of importance. Neary, S, (2014) mentioned that the meaning of a professional identity may be different things to different carrier practitioners. Majority, use of job title was a determinant in defining who they were professionally. Those defining themselves through a job title often felt they had a stronger professional identity than those whose job title was perceived to lack clarity. Job titles therefore had an important role. They supported practitioners to articulate what they do, often identifying an area of specialism.
Record manager often overlooked or confused with IT, secretaries or mail room worker, this is how the general public views the Record manager profession. In order to overcome this situation, Record manager need to develop their professional identity. According to Justyna, E. (2014), in branding the professional identity, the main important step is to define the brand and become an expert. The brand must reflect and fits in with the business goal of their institution, establishing expertise irrelevant in that context must be avoided. The professionals need to establish a presence and find out whether people know who they are and whether their work is visible. They also should be clear about who they are and who they are not, and make an effort to be intentional about the process, and generate brand awareness through networking.
Therefore in order to establish Record manager as a professional each of Record manager also needs to consider the importance of retaining professional title, in order honour the unique contribution that a Record manager can bring through a good record management. Each of Record manager also can assert more ownership of their unique body of professional knowledge and expertise. Therefore to preserve their professional identity, Record manager need to recognize that their core expertise is the protection of evidence for upholding rights.
Meanwhile in most organization in Malaysia, the role of the Record manager was conducting by a person who not have a qualification in this subject. The management always thinks that anybody at all could manage records. Numerous people come into records management from various discipline such as public administration, financial, scientific research, and retail management. Based on the study conducted by Aliza Ismail and Adnan Jamaludin (2011), records management in Malaysia was carried out by unskilled and untrained personnel and also supervised by the person with no records management background. Without the right caliber of staff in records management position, records management in Malaysia cannot achieve professional status. Sammy Dzandu, (2008) make an argument on untrained and unqualified persons who assigned to the responsibilities as a Record manager. This scenario not happened in other professional like, teachers, doctors, lawyer, engineers, accountant, social workers and other professional. Record manager is a professional profession. Professional means someone who possesses specialized knowledge that need a skills, behaviour and set of qualities. If this role been taken by other general personnel, it may cause to the loss of records, resulting in the lack of consistency in the records creation and maintenance.
Therefore to establish Record manager as a recognized profession in Malaysia, it need of sufficiency training that can contribute to enhance their knowledge and skills, to support their role and responsibilities as Record manager. Records Managers need to be multi talented in term of being optimism in communication, their daily job need the Record manager to deal with colleagues from all background from top management to lower level of operational staff; good negotiators in a term to persuade their team management at the organization to give consent, allow their records to be preserved forever. Why a Record managers need to be giving the training in this area of knowledge? A Records Manager is person whose responsible for the effective and appropriate management of an organization’s records. The Record manager need to be make known to the proper knowledge, methods, concept, legalities, principles and requirements in governmental records management parallel with the international best practices. In this connection the profession of the Record manager will be recognized through their professional capability in managing the record management.
Role of Record manager nowadays has been change from a conventional record keeper to a electronic record keeper. According to Elizabeth Lomas (2010), in order to remain relevant within public and private sector organizations, the Record manager need to make a transformation in their roles and responsibilities. This transformation shift from the physical management on paper records, managing controlled and appraised at key stages through a records management life cycle, to handling and valuing electronic records in line with the records continuum model.
In Information governance environment, Record manager have to shift from an environment in which they have been capable to control and maintain information within an organization’s boundaries through Web 2.0 technologies or business applications which are hosted and supported within a third party ‘cloud’. In the recent time, in Malaysia most of the organizations are moving from a traditional records management system the electronics records management systems. Currently in the public sector, Cadre Post of Archivist has been created in all the ministry since 2013. This Cadre Post of Archivist perform as a Record manager by leading the Record Management section towards the introduction to the Digital Document Management System (DDMS). DDMS is a cloud based system, initiative towards a paperless government. This system is designed to manage the creation and maintenance of electronically created documents of the Malaysian public sector departments within a specific classification scheme, apply retention and disposal schedules, and control access and use. DDMS provides the technological component of a framework for the systematic and structured management of records. In order to face the challenges, education and training on electronic records should be used to support and enhance the professional growth of the Record manager in the public sector. The purpose of education and training is to provide the Record manager with the knowledge and competencies that necessary to growth their professional. Moreover, education and training need to be given priority in order to ensure the Record manager is intellectually prepared to facing the rapidly chancing in the record electronic environment and to ensure their role sustain. As we know records manager have a very important role to play in organization day to day operation; however, currently we can see that most of the responsibilities of the Record manager can be performed automatically with modern technology, namely document management systems.
To persistent practicable, records manager are faced with a requirement to continually analyze new opportunities and new risks for developing and implementing records and information management systems. Leigh Isaacs (2013), stated Record management has broadened beyond risk and compliance toward information governance, Record mangers have roles as experts in information governance and management, not just their more traditional role as risk manager. As information experts, that can enlist a range of strategies to make sense of the ‘mess’ of legacy information that business have amassed. Information governance is an accountability program, a superset of records management programs and feature similar methodologies and processes. In information governance the roles and responsibilities clearly defines with detailed metrics and auditing. It demand a cross functional committee involving legal, compliance, business, and Information and technology. This program is created to enforce desirable bahaviour in the creation, use, archiving, and deletion of corporate information. (Jeff Lewis, 2012).
Clause 4.2.4-Control of Records (MS ISO 9001:2008) stated that record established to provide evidence of conformity to requirements and of the effective operation of the quality management system shall be controlled. To define the control needed for the identification, storage, protection, retrieval, retention and disposition of records, the organization must established a documented procedure. Records management as defined by the Australian Standard 4390, is the discipline and organizational function of managing records to reach operational business requirements, accountability needs, and community expectations. This definition is derived from the observation that records management involve in many roles within an organization and in the organization’s relationship with the world. Records Management deal with capturing accurate, reliable, complete, and usable documentation of organizational activity to encounter accountability, legal, and evidential requirements. (Australian Standard AS 4390, 1996). Judith Lamont (2012) defined records management is a fundamental cornerstone of good governance. As a part of governance, record management touches multiple groups, including business users, the IT departments, the legal community and executive management.
Records, as defined in ISO 15489-1:2016 are any information created, received,and maintained as evidence and as an asset by an organization or person, in pursuit of legal obligations or in the transaction of business. A durable evidence can be provide by a well managed of record keeping. A weak records control results is potentially misleading national evidence base that opens opportunities for fraud, manipulation, and corruption. In the case of Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge on 23 May 2008, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found that sovereignty over Pulau Batu Puteh/Pedra Branca belonged to the Republic of Singapore and the sovereignty over Middle Rocks belongs to Malaysia. The judgment ends the 28 year old territorial dispute between Malaysia and Singapore. Malaysian researchers left no stone unturned to find Governor Butterworth letter/s of the request of 1844, a critical evidence in support and corroborate in the argument that the consent given by the Sultan and Temenggong Johor did include Batu Puteh (Kadir Mohamed, 2009). This case present the relationship between record management and accountable and efficient governance. Good governance, information security and record management are all deeply connected.
In order of that, it is very important to improve efficiency and awareness of civil servants with regard to Record Management through the enforcement of the National Archives Act 2003 (Act 629) to ensure that records are managed in a systematic and cost effective according to the standards set. This part must be taken seriously by National Archives of Malaysia as body which is responsible in the record keeping to strengthen the auditing in the record management. The aim of auditing is to ensure that all the agencies in the public sectors comply with the National Archives Act 2003. Therefore Record manager play an important role in managing the information required to demonstrate as evidence of governance. The officials working in this section are guided by the National Archives Act 629 clause 7 (a) stated to examine records.
A well managed records are an essential tool for a good governance, there exists a very close relationship between governance and records keeping. A good governance facilitates the achievement of transparency and accountability in public administration.
Records management deal with the records necessary in business and their identification, capture, storage, retrieval, and destruction (Rowley and Hartley, 2008, 283). Good governance depends on the implementation of records management itself, standards, policies, and procedures are vital to ensure records management program can be implemented effectively and efficiently in organizations (Raja Abdullah Yaacob, 2007).
Thus, it proves the important role of the Record manager in the organization. Therefore, in order to make the Record manager a professional career in the public sector, record management functions should be set as the main agenda in the administration of a ministry/department/agency. To qualify the above, The National Archives of Malaysia itself should be located directly to the Department of Prime Minister. Currently, the National Archives is located in the Ministry of Tourism, Art and Culture. While this makes sense with regard to the National Archives responsibilities as a custodian of the national heritage, but in the other way it leading National Archives under the tough circumstance to meet the legal responsibilities for records management services in the public sector.
Even though the national archives of Malaysia have been establish 60 years ago. The position of this department still remain unclear in the government administration. Since 1957, almost more than ten ministries have leading the National Archives of Malaysia, there are Department of the Prime Minister (1957), Ministry of Justice (1958), Ministry of Technology, Research and Local Government (1971), Ministry of Local Government and Housing (1973), Ministry of Local Government and environment (1974), Ministry of Local Government and the Federal (1976), Ministry of Housing and Local Government (1978), Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (1982), Ministry of Culture and Tourism (later renamed the Ministry of culture, Arts and Tourism( (1987), Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage (2004) and Ministry of Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage (2008). As a comparison with other archives institution, many of the archives institution was created as a independent agency likes The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the the United States government, that exist outside the federal executive departments. While in Australia, The National Archives was established under the Archives Act 1983 as an executive agency of the Australian Government. The organization reports to the Attorney- General. Meanwhile in Singapore, The National Archives of Singapore was brought under The National Heritage Board. This Heritage board is a statutory board.
Other than that, in order to gain the recognition of the record management profession in the Malaysia there is a need of professional associations. Professional associations play a key role in developing, promoting and strengthening a profession. Therefore it is high time to a Record manager in Malaysia to establish the association. The Archives and Records Association in United Kingdom and Ireland, (ARA’s) is the leading body of, archives, record management and archives conversation (‘record keeping’) in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. One of ARA’s strategic aims is to develop and support the highest professional and ethical standards in all aspects of the management of records and archives in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. This professional associations also play a role in supporting the professional developments of all its members by identifying, developing and promoting the professional skills required by the sector. Antonio M.Santos, (2003) citing Russel Bowden stated that to any professional organization, their main responsibility to the society is to protect the quality of services provided by their members to the users. Through association all the Record manager can take part actively in relevant cooperation and partnerships to strengthen their professional knowledge. They also can recognize and identify the requirements for new standards, best practices and guidelines that can lead to their career development.
Adina PALEA (2012) citing Remus Pricopie (2004:207) the professionalization is “the process of transforming an occupation into a profession”, evolutionary process that includes five steps:
a)Emergence of an occupation;
b)Establishment of schools for training in the domain to which the respective occupation belongs to;
c)Establishment of professional associations;
d)Launching arrangements for legal recognition of that industry;
e)Adoption of a formal code of professional conduct.
Undergoing this process of professionalization has beneficial effects not only on that profession, but also on the society as a whole, because professional organizations are stable elements, benchmarks of contemporary society which generate patterns of thought and action, both within the accepted professional communities and outside them (Pricopie, 2004: 207).
Conclusion
The world of records management is rapidly changing. Record management profession continues to evolve, struggling to find relevance or acceptance in the face of the digital information universe. Looking ahead, Record manager must strive harder to stay relevant and facing the challenge. Technology has redefined the roles and responsibilities not only the Record manager, but the integrity of how an organization conducts the business. Therefore, it is crucial to the record professional in Malaysia to redefine their role to ensure the sustainability and recognition from the society.
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